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Carbon Steel to Stainless Steel

02-11-2007, 12:02 PM

I'm working on a project that requires welding carbon steel bracing to the outside of a stainless steel tank.
Which will give me the best job for penatration and over all appearance?
(316L Stainless Steel wire or the ER70 Carbon Steel )

Comment

The tank is 48"X48"X26' Non pressure constructed from 1/4" 304 SS.
Welding the tank is not the problem.
Welding the bracing to the sides is where we are haveing trouble.
The Stainless wire does not seem to be penatrating the carbon steel bracing.
It's just rolling over with what seems to be little pentration.
Any suggestions??

Comment

You need to use 309L electrode because of the dissimilar metals. I have done lots of carbon to SS at the pulpmills in the past. This may not be the best way, but I do know that it works and is what I learned during my "A" ticket in BC. 309L has the most carbon "memory" I think that is why it works best with Carbon to SS.

Comment

I've done quite a bit of welding stainess to carbon steel, 309 is the best way to go whether electrodes or wire, if you're going to MIG weld it you'll probably want to use a tri mix gas Argon, Helium & Co2, I've used 90/8/2 with good results. Praxair has a tri mix called Helistar that works well too.

Comment

I've done a fair amount of carbon to stainless, primarily 304, but also a bit of 316l, in precipitators and associated assemblies. Carbon to 304 is easy enough with 309, and doable with 308 as well, but remember that the filler doesn't want to wet-out well into the carbon, so be diligent in making sure you have good fusion. It can be coerced with a smooth hand. And once done, it looks pretty cool, too...especially to the guys who aren't sure just what you did.

The carbon to 316 was just a PITA, but again, due diligence will pay off...as will a boatload of practice.